


An improbable ally

by Starliam



Category: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:02:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24493207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starliam/pseuds/Starliam
Summary: Danny is dead, and Rusty needs help in order to find his murderer. But is he really dead?
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't watched "Ocean's 8" yet, but I know that there are references to Danny's death, and to the possibility that he might not be dead after all. So, I imagined this.  
> It was supposed to be a one shot for my collection of Terry's ficlets, but I decided to expand it a little bit.

When he had started that new day, Terry expected it to be a boring one. He was home, recovering from the flu, but he still had some work to do. Some calls to make, some documents to sign, nothing out of the ordinary. He definitely didn't expect... that.  
Out of the blue, while he was at his desk in his home office, busy reading an important memo from the Nevada Gaming Committee, somebody shouted at him.  
Apparently, he wasn't alone like he thought.  
"Murderer! You're a murderer!"  
Terry jumped on his chair, while his heart skipped a beat. What the... Ryan? Rusty Ryan?  
He was in front of him, looking angry and devastated. "You're a murderer!" he shouted again, walking quickly towards Terry's desk.  
Terry got up and got behind his chair, raising his hands, like if he was threatened with a gun."I... I don't know what you're talking about".  
Rusty stopped right in front of him. He was pale, with a beard of a few days, dressed in shabby clothes. Nothing like the usual Ryan.  
"Why did you have to kill him?" he asked, in a threatening whisper.   
"I didn't kill anyone".  
"Yes, of course," scoffed Rusty. He looked devastated. "We gave your money back" he shouted again. "We did everything you wanted... you promised. And then you had to go and kill Danny... Are you still not over Tess? That's why you did it?"  
Now, Terry looked stunned and surprised. "Ocean is dead? What happened?" he managed to ask, still with his arms up.  
Rusty looked at him, like he was really seeing him for the first time. "You really don't know..."  
"No, I don't! What happened?"  
"Someone killed him. A week ago. I... I assumed it was you".  
"And why would I have done it?"  
"Oh, I don't know, Benedict! Because you hate him! We stole your money, he stole your girl..."  
"That was almost twenty years ago, Ryan! And you gave me the money back. And we worked together in other situations, like with the Bank hotel and those other things. Why would I kill him now? The last time I spoke to him it was years ago".   
Rusty seemed confused and, for the first time since he had arrived, it looked like he was really thinking."I... I don't..."  
"Believe me, I didn't do anything to Ocean".  
Rusty let himself fall on the chair in front of Terry's desk. Benedict sat too, finally able to breath again.  
"You have to help me to find who did this. Please," said Rusty again.   
"Why should I do that?" asked Terry, very slowly and carefully, like if he was speaking to a spooked animal.  
"Because... You have money, and contacts. You can be useful. I will give you everything you want, in exchange. Anything. You can ask me anything, and I will do it".  
Terry shook his head. "I really don't think that..."  
"Please. He didn't deserve what they did to him".  
Terry looked at Ryan's face. He was pale, exhausted and his eyes were red. Clearly he had not slept in days.  
Benedict sighed. "What did they do to him?" he asked.  
"He... his car was blown up. With him inside".  
Terry frowned. "That's why you thought about me. It's how I threatened you".  
"Yes".  
"Well, it looks like a method used by organized crime," said Benedict again, taking a pen and a sheet of paper. "Do you know if he had problems with a mobster, a gangster or someone like that?"  
"He... What are you doing?" asked Rusty, seeing that Benedict was writing something.  
"I can think better if I write things down," he explained.  
"Oh. Okay. So... Yes, I mean...."  
Rusty put his hand on his face, sighing loudly. "He said something about... some gangster that was mad at him, but I don't know exactly why and who. From what I understood, Danny stole something that this guy wanted to steal too".  
"Really?" asked Terry, looking intently at him. "And you didn't think about that, before barging in my house accusing me of being a murderer?"  
Rusty closed his eyes, sighing. "I forgot. After everything that happened... I just wasn't thinking straight".  
"Yeah. I can see that", commented Terry, coldly. "Anyway... let's write this down. When did he tell you about this?"  
"A... a couple of weeks before he died. He also told me he was scared for his sister".  
Terry frowned. "His sister?"  
"Yes. Debbie. She is younger than him. She is in prison now, she should be released soon".  
Terry shook his head. "Of course. Why am I not surprised? And why was he scared for her?"  
"Danny thought that this guy could hurt her in order to punish him".  
"Mmmm. And you don't remember his name?"  
"He didn't tell me. But I can figure it out if we have to".  
Terry wrote something else. Then, he looked at the paper, frowning. He circled something and connected it to something else with an arrow.  
Rusty looked at him, curious. What was he doing?  
After a second, Benedict put down the pen, and looked at Rusty. "So... He was blown up in his car. That means that the body wasn't recognizable, I imagine?"  
Rusty paled and looked nauseous. "I... guess".  
"Mmm. And do you know if an official identification has been done? Maybe a DNA exam, or an examination of the teeth...?"  
Rusty frowned. "No, of course not. He was in his car. There was no reason to do so".  
Terry tightened his lips. "Mmm".  
He looked at the paper again.  
"Why?" asked Rusty. "What are you thinking of?"  
Benedict looked at him for a second, before answering. "Have you... thought about the possibility that Ocean faked his own death?"  
Rusty looked stunned. "What?"  
"I mean... he is in trouble with a dangerous gangster, somebody who would kill him. Him and maybe his sister. His sister is supposed to go out of prison soon, and Ocean dies right before her release? In a way that makes it impossible to identify his body? I don't know.... it's just a theory, and I might be wrong, but it's a lot of coincidences, don't you think?"  
Rusty covered his face with his hands, shaking a little. He was awfully pale, and Terry thought he might faint. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to give you false hopes..."  
"He would have told me," he said Rusty, interrupting him.  
Terry shrugged. "Maybe he wanted to keep you safe too".  
"By not telling me? I almost killed you".  
"What?"  
Rusty sighed, looking away. "I... I have a gun in my pocket".  
It was Terry's turn to pale. "Dear God," he whispered.   
"I... I don't know what to say..."  
"Try to call Tess. She must know," proposed Terry.  
"Right". Rusty took out his phone, and started dialing. Then, he looked at Terry again, surprised. "The number is not active anymore. I spoke to her right after the fact..."  
"And now she disconnected her phone. See? I think that's another proof. Why she would do that?"  
Rusty squeezed his phone in his hand, like he wanted to crush it. "That son of a bitch", he said, looking angrily in front of him.


	2. Chapter 2

"Why are you always eating?"  
Rusty turned to look at Benedict, licking his lips. The tycoon was looking at him, with a frown on his tanned face.  
"Because I can eat and stay skinny, that's why," replied Rusty with a big smile.  
"Okay, well..." Terry took a pen and his notebook.  
"Why are you always writing?" asked Rusty, biting a piece from a chicken nugget.  
"I told you, it helps me to think!" answered Terry, opening his arms.  
Rusty smiled again, shaking his head. Terry looked surreptitiously at him. The thief seemed to be much better. After a few days of investigating, he looked again like the old Rusty. Shaved, clean, well dressed (or... dressed in his usual style anyway), and always hungry.  
Terry would have not admitted it to anyone, but it was reassuring. He almost never had contacts with Ryan, but he had that kind of personality that didn't go unnnoticed. Seeing him transformed almost in the ghost of himself, with a gun in his pocket, was deeply upsetting, even for Terry.   
"So..." said Benedict, looking again at the open notebook in front of him. "Have you contacted Caldwell and the others?"  
Rusty shook his head. "No. I would prefer not to do it, until we know something more. I would hate to give them false hopes".  
Benedict sighed. "I understand, but we already have a lot. If only you remembered about all these details before trying to kill me..."  
Rusty rolled his eyes. "I told you. I was incredibly upset. It's like I blacked out. And you accepted my apology about the... gun thing".  
"Mmmm".   
Rusty had taken a room at the Bellagio, and for the past three days he was very often in Terry's office. Incredibly, talking to Benedict had helped him putting together different aspects. During their last conversation, Danny had told him some things that at the moment didn't make any sense, but thinking about them now... Terry was right, Danny had most certainly faked his own death. The most important detail was that he had mentioned to Rusty that he had chosen a new alias: Sonny Mauro.  
According to Danny, Sonny Mauro would have made an appearance soon. Rusty had laughed it off, assuming that Danny was just thinking to another plan for robbing something. Now, he knew: he had to find Sonny Mauro, and he would have found Danny.  
"It's such a singular name," was saying Terry, writing something down. "I can't believe we haven't found anything yet".   
"I can't believe he didn't tell me," answered Rusty, looking at the now empy box of chicken nuggets. "What's the point of giving me those clues? Could't he just tell me?"  
Terry shrugged. "Maybe he thought he was being spied".  
"Okay, but he could have told me later. He could have called me, 'Hey, Rusty, I'm not dead'. I don't get it".  
"You can ask him when we find him".  
"If we find him".  
"Well, sooner or later..."  
"I'll make more calls".

"He's in LA", said the nex day Rusty, entering in Terry's office with a big smile.  
"You sure?"  
"Yes. Sonny Mauro is there and is almost every night at a pub called Nextdoor".  
Terry smirked. "So, you came here and he was actually in your city".  
"I should have thought about that. I'm going now. Do you want to come?"  
Terry thought about it for a few seconds. He had a lot of work to do, but he had to admit that he had fun in the last days, working with Ryan. "Sure".

That very same night, both Terry and Rusty where in LA, at the pub that Rusty's contact had said. They were sitting at the counter, drinking some beers. Rusty was fidgeting, looking around, his lips tight and his face tense. Terry looked more relaxed, but he was looking around too.   
And finally, Terry's eyes went to the main entrance, and he opened them wide. Rusty looked in the same direction, suddenly incapable to breathe.  
Danny Ocean was slowly walking towards them, with an half smile on his face. He stopped right in front of Rusty.  
"You found me. It took you longer than I thought".  
Rusty shook his head, without speaking. He took a step towards his friend, throwing his arms at him. Danny hugged him tight, closing his eyes; and Terry could understand that Ryan was crying.   
"Shhh... hey... I'm here now, I'm here", was whispering Ocean. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry".  
Terry kept sipping his beer, until the two of them, finally, let go of each other. Rusty quickly dried his eyes, and started drinking again, like nothing had happened. Ocean sat next to him, smiling.  
"How did you find me?"  
"I remembered about what you told me about the new alias. I made some calls, and here I am".  
Danny nodded, and then gestured towards Terry. "Why is he here?"  
"He helped me".  
"I did almost nothing," said Terry, looking at Ocean for the first time. "In the end Rusty did everything".  
"Well, Terry was the one who acctually came up first with the possibility that you might have been still alive".   
"Really? Well, that's... interesting. I didn't think you might go to him to ask for help".  
"Oh, I didn't. No, I actually thought he was the one who murdered you".  
"What?" Now Ocean wasn't smiling anymore. He looked rather perplexed.   
"Yes. I admit I wasn't thinking straight. So I went to Terry to confront him, and he convinced me he wasn't guilty".  
"Of course he wasn't. Why would he have done it?" asked Danny, frowning.  
That simple sentence was enough to change the expression of Rusty's face. He looked at his friend, hard. Then he shook his head, had the last sip of his beer and told Ocean, very seriously: "You are an asshole".  
With that, he took his jacket from the back of the chair and left.  
"What...?"  
Danny looked at him, surprised, and then turned towards Terry, who was looking in front of him, drinking another beer.  
"He's right, you know," said the tycoon, without looking at Ocean. "You are an asshole".  
Danny sighed. "Listen, Terry, I'm grateful to you for helping Rusty, but really, I don't think you understand".  
"Probably I don't. But I understand that I had never saw anyone so devastated as your friend, when he came to me. I almost didn't recognize him. You didn't think about how much the people you love would have suffered?"  
"I did. But I didn't have time... I had to keep them safe. Even Rusty".  
"Oh, you had to keep him safe. Sending him in jail for life for murder means to keep him safe?"  
Danny frowned. "What are you talking about?"  
"When he came to confront me, he had a gun. He wanted to kill me".  
Danny's eyes widened. "Oh, shit," he muttered.  
"Yes. Oh shit indeed. You didn't think about that? That your best friend in the world would have wanted to avenge you?"  
Danny sighed. "No, I didn't".  
"Mmm".  
"Listen, I don't want to justify myself to you. I did what I had to do in that moment. But thank you for helping Rusty".  
Terry looked at him for a long moment. "After the Bank job, you told me that you knew why I was planning to steal the diamonds. You told me 'Because I'm me and you are you'. I still remember that. And now I can tell you, Ocean, that you can say whatever you want about me, but I would never do to my friends what you did to yours".  
"Well, that's easy. You don't have any friends".  
Terry smiled coldly. "Is this your smart retort? You can do better".  
"Maybe next time. Now I have to deal with this".  
Danny got out of the pub, but came back a minute later. "He left," he said.   
"He must have gone back home".  
"Okay, then I'll go there and..."  
"No, you won't," interrupted Terry, gathering his jacket. "He needs time to think. I will go to him, and I will talk to him, and then I'll call you if he wants to see you tonight. Give me your number, he didn't take it".  
Danny didn't answer, just scribbled something on a piece of paper that gave to Terry. Benedict took it, and left the pub without another word.


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as Danny entered in his motel room, he took off his jacket, sighing heavily. He took his face in his hands, sitting on the couch. It was the most difficult time in his life. He didn't know what was going to do, when he would have been able to see Tess again... and now, Rusty was mad at him and didn't want to talk to him. And he was friend with Terry. Great. Right in that moment, his phone made a "ding", signaling a new text message.

_You can come.Rusty is waiting for you.  
Terry. _

Under Terry's name, there was the address of a motel number. Danny immediately got up from the couch, and left without even taking his jacket.   
Luckily, the address wasn't too far. He arrived and knocked on the door number. After a few second, the door was opened by Terry Benedict. Danny tightened his lips, incapable of masking his disappointment.Terry let him enter, and Danny saw Rusty, standing in the middle of the room.  
"Hey," said Danny, with a small smile.   
Rusty only nodded.  
Danny turned to look at Terry. "Do you mind leaving us some time?"  
Terry looked at Rusty, who nodded. Danny couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.   
"I'll be in my room", was saying Benedict to Rusty. "Call me if you need me".   
He left, and Danny and Rusty were silent for some uncomfortable moments. Clearly, Rusty wasn't going to speak, so Danny decided to break the ice.   
"You seem to be very friendly with Terry, uh?" Danny was trying to seem casual, but the sentence came out a little accusatory.  
Rusty looked at him, tightening his lips. "As incredible this might sound to you, he was a friend to me. When I needed a friend the most, he was there. Something I would like to say of you".   
"Russ..."  
"I can't believe you did this to me", said Rusty, an hard expression on his skinny face.  
Danny opened his arms wide. "I told you... I was worried. For me, for Tess, for Debbie, for you, for all of my friends. I couldn't take any chances".  
Rusty shook his head. "I can't believe that you didn't even think of sending me a message. You could have let me know, one way or the other".   
"I swear I wanted to. I just... I didn't know if it was safe. I wouldn't do anything to put you in danger, you know that".   
Rusty sighed, but didn't answer.   
So, Danny kept talking. "Besides... I knew you would have figured it out. And you did".  
"I didn't!" Rusty almost yelled. "Terry did! When I went to his house ready to kill him!"  
Danny shook his head. "No. I know you. You are not a murderer. You wouldn't have done it".  
"I would like to be so sure. But I'm not. I bought a gun, Danny. For all of my life, I never wanted a gun. Now I bought one".  
Danny stayed silent for a few second. Then, he talked again, in a pained tone of voice. "I'm really sorry, Rusty".  
Rusty looked at him for a long second. "And everyone else... Linus... he was desperate".  
"We will need to tell him. Now"  
"Yes, we are calling him now".  
"Rusty... that guy that wants me dead... he's still out there. I can't go back in the open, until he's free".  
"What are you suggesting?"  
"I don't know... I don't want to do anything that can put anyone in danger. But... I was actually searching for a way to have him arrested. Him and his people. This way, I could really come back. Without risking my sister's life".  
Rusty nodded. "Yes. But you don't have to do this alone. We'll do that like always. We'll call everyone and we'll think of something. We'll do what you should have done from the start".  
Danny sighed. "Rusty, I told you... I didn't..."  
"I know, I know. I'm sorry, I shouldn't... Listen, Danny. I understand why you did what you did. And maybe... maybe I would have done the same. I don't know. It's just... It's been the worst time in my life. I never felt like that before".  
Danny looked about to cry. "I'm really sorry. I can't even tell you how sorry I am. I acted fast, I couldn't take any chances..."  
"Yes, you told me. It's fine. I'm really happy you're alive".  
Rusty turned to look at the view from the big window, standing in front of it. Danny stood next to him, in the same position.   
"Would you really have killed Terry?" he asked, after a minute of silence.   
Rusty stayed quiet for some time. Right when Danny was about to speak again, his friend answered. "I don't think so. I started talking to him. I never killed anyone, of course, but I guess that if I really wanted to do that, I would have shot him right away".  
Danny nodded. "I'm glad you didn't do it".  
Rusty laughed a little, for the first time that night. "Me too. Can you imagine the irony? Me doing life in prison for murder because I avenged the death of a friend who is actually alive".   
Danny smiled at him. "I'm glad you're here".  
His friend smiled too. For the first time, it looked like everything was back to normal.  
The two thieves stayed silent again, enjoying the fact that they were together.   
Then, Danny turned to look at Rusty. "Let's call Linus".  
"Yes. He won't believe it. I can't wait".  
"But before, you should go tell Terry he can relax. We are not going to fight".  
Rusty laughed. "Are you jealous?"  
Danny laughed too. "No, I'm not"  
"Sure?"  
"Well... A little, maybe..."  
Rusty laughed again.


End file.
